A five-wicket haul from Durham’s James Minto and a sparkling 75 from Issac Mohammed went in vain as Bangladesh Men U19s beat England Men U19s by 87 runs in the first Youth One-Day International at Loughborough.
Rizan Hossan’s authoritative century off 101 balls underpinned Bangladesh’s innings, as the target of 293 proved too much for the hosts.
Despite a confident start, England dramatically collapsed from 132 for two to 205 all out, as Bangladesh’s spinners combined to take eight wickets. Samiun Basir Ratul stood out with outstanding figures of 4.2-0-9-4.
Bangladesh openers Zawad Abrar and Rifat Beg made a brisk start, reaching 31 for none after five overs. Abrar’s brace of sixes over fine leg during an expensive opening spell by Minto typified their approach. Progress was halted when Leicestershire’s Alex Green claimed Beg’s wicket with his first ball, which grazed the leg stump and ended the 44-run opening stand.
Bangladesh captain Azizul Hakim Tamim, who was dropped on four, was next to depart, caught by Kent’s Ben Dawkins off Yorkshire new-ball bowler, Matthew Firbank, for 11. England struck again when Abrar gloved Minto down the legside, at 69 for three in the 13thover the Young Lions appeared to gain a foothold in the game.
However, a fourth-wicket partnership worth 148 between Kalam Aleen and Hossan allowed the visitors to regain the initiative.
Initially Hossan was the main aggressor, he got to his fifty off 58 balls with a stylish boundary over midwicket. Aleen’s half-century, characterised by strong sweep shots, soon followed off 68 balls, as both batters manipulated the field effectively.
The partnership was broken by Minto in the 39th over, who took two wickets in consecutive balls, leaving the score on 217 for five. Firstly, Aleen played across the line and was trapped LBW and then Mohammad Abdullah was the victim of another legside strangle, with captain Thomas Rew completing a regulation catch.
England’s impressive death bowling meant that only 66 runs were added in the final 9.2 overs of the innings. The late flurry of wickets included Hossan, dismissed by Nottinghamshire’s Hatton-Lowe, one ball after getting to a deserved century. In the final over, Minto mopped up the innings, bagging two tailend wickets in two balls, the left-armer finishing with five for 68.
England’s chase of 293 began badly, as Fahad castled Dawkins, in the first over of the reply. Joe Moores followed in the sixth over for 14, a looping top edge offering Tamim a catch off his own bowling.
That brought Will Bennison to the middle, the Yorkshire batter in partnership with Mohammed proceeded to dominate the powerplay, accelerating the score to 129 for two after 15 overs. Isaac’s fifty, off only 34 balls, contained a ramped six along with several conventional boundaries.
Bangladesh’s breakthrough came via Shadin Islam’s off-spin, bowling Bennison through the gate for 36 off 32 balls. Soon after, Mohammed’s fine innings of 75 ended with a catch to cover, leaving two new batters at the crease and 151 runs needed off 32.2 overs.
Skipper Rew and debutant Jack Nelson maintained the pressure until a critical passage saw Middlesex’s Nelson undone by Ratul. The slow left armer also accounted for Rew as England faltered at 189 for six after 26.2 overs.
The situation considerably worsened when Ralphie Albert was needlessly run out. The very next ball, Hatton-Lowe was then caught behind off Shahdin.
Ratul closed out the game a few overs later with Firbank’s wicket, a sharp catch of his bowling.
Speaking after the game, Isaac said: “I really enjoyed it to be fair, I just felt good, I’ve doing a lot of training recently and I feel like a lot of that paid off today. At the end of the day the result didn’t go our way but when Sunday comes hopefully we can put it right.
“When I’m batting, I like to stay positive, whatever the scenario is, I’m backing my ability.”
Speaking about the Bangladesh spinners claiming eight wickets, he added: “At the start it was quite a fresh ball so it wasn’t doing as much. When the spinners did come back on, I’d just got out before that.
“But looking at some of the videos, it looked like it was starting to grip, so if we are playing on the same wicket on Sunday, that could be something to look into.”
Isaac, whose Worcestershire side are in the men’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final against Hampshire later this month, is hoping to cap a breakthrough season with a fairytale finish at Trent Bridge, said: “I’m loving it, and hopefully in the (Metro Bank) final against Hampshire, we can bring home the trophy.”
